How to permanently remove ads from the lock screen on Xiaomi Redmi 8 Pro: the complete guide

The Xiaomi Redmi 8 Pro lock screen should be a place to quickly access notifications and time, but instead many users face annoying ads: Banners with offers of games, promotions from the Mi Store or content from Xiaomi Ads are not only annoying, but also slowing down the phone's unlocking. Worst of all, over time, ads can appear more often - this is due to MIUI updates that automatically load new ad modules.

In this article, we'll look at 5 proven ways to remove ads from the lock screen on the Redmi 8 Pro, from standard settings to radical methods like factory reset. It's important to understand that some methods require root or PC connectivity, but we'll start with the simplest solutions. If you're tired of ads that interfere with your phone, the following instructions will help you get rid of them forever.

Why does Redmi 8 Pro have a lock screen ad?

The reason for the ads is the MIUI, which Xiaomi installs on all its smartphones, and the company monetizes its software through integrated advertising, and the Redmi 8 Pro is no exception.

• 📱 System apps: Mi Browser, Mi Video, Mi Music and even Settings can load ads.
• 🔄 Updates MIUI: New advertising modules are often activated after updates, even if they were not previously available.
• 📊 Xiaomi Ads Services: In the background, the service com.xiaomi.midrop, which is responsible for targeted advertising, works.
• 🎯 Personalized offers: If you use Mi Account, the system analyzes your actions and shows “relevant” ads.

Interestingly, in some regions (e.g. Europe), there are fewer ads due to local data protection laws, while in Russia, India and China, users are more likely to encounter them, and it is worth noting that ads can appear even after resetting, if you do not turn off their sources at the system level.

Method 1: Disabling Advertising through the standard MIUI settings

To start with, the simplest method, which doesn't require any additional tools, MIUI 12/13/14 has hidden options for disabling some of the ad modules.

1. Open the Settings. → The phone.
2. Tap 5-7 times on the MIUI version until the notification “You became a developer!” appears.
3. Return to the main Settings menu and select the new section Additional (For Developers).
4. Find the option to Disable MIUI (or Personalized Ad Recommendations) and deactivate it.

If this is not the case, try an alternative route:

• 🔍 Go to Settings. → Annexes → Application management.
• 📌 Type msa (this is an acronym for Miui System Ads).
• 🚫 Open the app found and click Disable (if the button is active).
• 🔄 Reboot the phone.

This method doesn’t work on all firmware, as Xiaomi regularly changes service names. If you don’t have an option, move on to the next one.

Method 2: Using ADB to Deeply Disable Advertising

If you don't have the standard settings, you'll have to connect to your phone via ADB, a more complex but effective method that blocks ad services at the system level.

• 🖥️ Computer with Windows/macOS/Linux.
• 📱 USB-cable (preferably original).
• 🔧 Installed drivers Xiaomi and ADB Tools.

Step instructions:

1. Turn on USB debugging: Go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (tap 7 times). Go back to Settings → Additional → For developers. Activate USB debugging and confirm permission.

Connect your phone to your PC

Take the commands in turn.

adb devices

(Your phone serial number should appear)

adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.xiaomi.midrop

adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.miui.systemAdSolution

adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.miui.analytics

Reboot the phone.

These commands remove key Xiaomi ad modules. If the ad remains after the reboot, try additional commands:

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.miui.daemon


adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.xiaomi.joyose

Method 3: Removing ads through third-party apps (without root)

If ADB seems too complex, you can use specialized utilities, one of the most popular is App Inspector (available on Google Play), which allows you to disable system applications without superuser permission.

Step-by-step:

1. Download and install the App Inspector.
2. Open the application and provide access to Special features (a request will pop up).
3. In the search, type ad or msa.
4. Find apps with names: 🔍 com.xiaomi.midrop (Mi Drop) 📊 com.miui.analytics (Analytics) MIUI) 🎯 com.miui.systemAdSolution (System Advertising)

Shut down.

Remove updates

After you turn off, restart your phone. If the ad disappears, great! If not, try the combination with ADB (mode 2).

⚠️ Note: Some apps (such as Mi Video or Mi Browser) may stop working after disabling the ad modules. If you need these services, use alternatives from Google Play.

Method 4: Reset to factory settings (radical method)

If nothing works, the last option is to completely reset the phone, which will delete all the data, but also reset the ad settings to the "out of the box" state.

How to reset the Redmi 8 Pro:

1. Go to Settings → About Phone → Backup and Reset.
2. Select Resetting → Erase all data.
3. Enter a password (if required) and confirm the action.
4. After the reboot, don’t sign in to Mi Account and don’t update MIUI right away – check first if the ads have disappeared.

If the ad came back after the update, it means that it is sewn into the firmware, in this case, only custom firmware (for example, LineageOS or Pixel Experience) will help, but this requires unlocking the bootloader and skills to work with fastboot.

Method 5: Blocking Advertising via DNS (Alternative Method)

If you download ads from the Internet, you can block them at the DNS level.

1. Go to Settings → Connections and Sharing → Private DNS.
2. Select the host name of the private DNS provider.
3. Enter one of the addresses: 🔒 dns.adguard.com (AdGuard DNS) 🛡️ 1.1.1.3 (Cloudflare Family) 🚫 94.140.14.14 (AdGuard Default)

Save the settings and restart the phone.

This method blocks ad domains at the network level, but can slow down the Internet connection, and some MIUI system updates can reset DNS back to standard ones.

💡

If some applications (e.g. banking) stop working after changing the DNS, return the settings back or use a VPN with an ad-blocking feature (e.g. AdGuard VPN).

What if the adverts returned after the MIUI update?

After upgrading MIUI to version 14.0.5 and later, Xiaomi returned the ad modules even on phones where they were disabled earlier, due to the company's policy of monetization of the software.

1. Check active services: Open Settings → Applications → Application Management. Find com.xiaomi.mipicks and com.miui.systemAdSolution – if they are enabled, turn them off.

Update. ADB-team

adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.miui.msa.global

(New advertising service in MIUI 14)

Back to the old firmware

Use Launcher from a third-party developer

Nova Launcher

If nothing helps, consider switching to custom firmware or buying a phone with a pure Android (like Google Pixel or Nothing Phone).

💡

After each major update MIUI Check your ad settings again – Xiaomi often returns disabled modules via the OTA-updates.

FAQ: Frequent questions about advertising on Xiaomi Redmi 8 Pro